One fan in particular knows the pressure the rookie quarterback faces as he steps into the tough New York media spotlight as the Jets' leader. That fan, Joe Namath, thinks Darnold will be just fine.

In fact, the legendary former Jets quarterback lavishly praised Darnold in an interview with Steve Serby of the New York Post.

The 75-year-old Namath is best known, of course, for leading the Jets to victory over the heavily favored Colts in Super Bowl 3 — an outcome he brashly predicted beforehand. He made a prediction in his Post interview, saying Darnold "should be around a long time playing a high grade of football at quarterback.”

What does Namath like about the rookie, who was selected No. 3 overall in the 2018 draft? A better question is, what doesn't he like? Namath praised Darnold's physical talent, his leadership, his poise, and more.

“His poise, being able to move around in the pocket, not throwing it unless he’s got something, throwing well running to the left, throwing well running to the right,” Namath said. “You listen to the coaches, I’ve watched some of the interviews that he’s done … he looks like he is the real deal. He’s got a lot of enthusiasm and he has a lot of respect for the game and the people around him."

Namath believes Darnold will continue to improve as he matures.

“He looks good throwing the football,” Namath said. “I imagine he would tell you himself he’s got room to improve. I think we all can improve our accuracy. I don’t know anybody that’s ever been 100 percent happy about how the ball leaves their hand every time. And I don’t know if that’s even achievable, because you’re moving around and the twists and turns, your arm’s in a different position.

“He’s a good passer now, though, there’s no doubt about that. He could throw everything you could ask of him, and he’s only gonna get stronger. He’s gonna get stronger, he already changes speeds and puts air under the ball, he has nice touch. He has that eye for being able to recognize, from what I’ve seen even in college but this preseason, the eye to be able to see how much heat he needs to put on the ball when a receiver’s a certain distance from him, how much air he needs to put under a ball. He’s a good passer.”

Like other Jets fans, Namath probably winced when Darnold threw a pick-six against the Lions on his first career pass attempt. But he had to like how Darnold responded after that interception, completing 11-of-14 attempts for 122 yards, including a 41-yard TD strike to Robby Anderson. The Jets led the Lions 17-10 at the half.